Before the championships, before the billion-dollar business empire, before the $500 million net worth, Shaquille O’Neal had a very simple financial dream.
On an episode of Expeditiously, Shaq explained that when he entered the NBA, all he wanted was to make eight million a year for 10 years.
“My dream when I came out was to make eight million for ten years. That was my dream. I had it set up in my room. I had a poster that I got from Spencer’s Gifts. It was a house with a two-car garage. My car was going to be the 600 SEC Mercedes-Benz, black on black. Then I was going to have a white Jimmy Blazer.”
“Then, when I get drafted, my agent said, ‘You know, we asked them for 50 million.’ I’m like, ‘What? We doing what? Is this legal?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ So we asked for 50, and we got 40. I was one of the first guys that signed a seven-year deal, but you could renegotiate after three.”
“So my agent tells me, ‘Man, if you dominate, you can get 100 million in three years.’ Now I got 40. I could have been comfortable, right? But he was like, ‘Yo, after three years, I can get you 120.’ That just extra motivated me.”
“So now after I leave Orlando and go to LA and get the 100, he said, ‘My man, you know the owner said if you win a championship, I can get you 50 million in endorsement deals and another 100 million.’ So I’m just going to keep playing.”
His first NBA contract was actually four years and $17.4 million with the Orlando Magic. He was already making more than he ever imagined. Then the big leap came in 1996 when he signed a seven-year, $120 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. That contract reset the market and turned him into one of the highest-paid players in the league.
Shaq did not just surpass his original dream. He obliterated it.
Over his NBA career, he earned more than $286 million in salary alone. He later signed a three-year, $88.5 million extension with the Lakers in 2003, then a five-year, $105 million deal with the Miami Heat in 2005 after using an early termination option. His final contract, a two-year, $2.75 million deal with the Boston Celtics in 2010, was more about chasing one last ring than money.
And that was only the court earnings.
Today, Shaq reportedly makes over $95 million per year in endorsements, outpacing the $286 million he made as a player. His current net worth exceeds $500 million, and he has built a sprawling business empire that stretches across footwear, restaurants, real estate, tech investments, fitness, and brand management.
From affordable shoes sold at Walmart to fast-growing restaurant chains, to early investments in companies like Google, Shaq transformed himself from a dominant center into a strategic investor.
The wild part is that it all started with a modest goal. $8 million a year for 10 years, a house with two cars.
Instead, he became one of the wealthiest athletes in sports history.
